Progress seen in shale play that crosses Central Louisiana

2:29 PM,
Aug. 4, 2013

The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale runs from Mississippi to Texas across Central Louisiana.

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From news reports

BATON ROUGE, La. -- It's been three years since energy companies began leasing hundreds of thousands of acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, hoping to cash in on the mother lode: 7 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports in Sunday's editions that the expected economic surge that oil and gas industry members and public officials envisioned has yet to materialize. The formation's complexities - including a softer rock that won't easily release the oil it hoards - ­have been difficult to solve. And competition from other, easier-to-crack shales around the ...